Given the niche, pass it along to qualified professionals or contact me with your resume:
“The project objectives are to develop Virtual World applications to study how people acquire, organize and apply information. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in Virtual World development, and a demonstrable interest in Social/Bio Sciences and/or Communication/Media.”

Although I am still on the fence on GISP given the relative lackluster, what APA has done with AICP‘s CM could give it some shine when it comes to creating a provider ecosystem.

To quickly fill you in: Last year at its Leadership Meetings, APA launched the CM program for AICP. In short, it required professional planners to continuously seek training in order to maintain their certifications, and allowed 3rd-party providers to offer that training.

For SIS, adopting a similar approach would require forsaking a fee-centric approach, letting someone like OGC bite a bigger share and sinking deeper into some sort of GIS accreditation, far beyond ESRI Authorized Training Program, before the “Surveyor Usurp” (see below).

–π

Related:
� The Status of Professional Certification in GIS – Conclusion:
“GIS application areas range from engineering to computer and information sciences, geography, business, logistics, forestry, and many other academic and professional preparation fields. Because GIS professionals come from a wide variety of backgrounds and academic preparation, no one group can claim to represent all approaches and applications within the GIS community. Also, given the volatile nature of the field, and the rapid change currently underway in software development and application deployment, adequate preparation today does not guarantee competency in the future. For these reasons, an overarching program to ensure appropriate professional preparation and competency must be developed by those parties interested in safeguarding the viability of the field and the competency of those claiming professional status.

It is unlikely that voluntary certification can assure competency across the profession if most practitioners choose not to be certified or if employers don’t insist that their employees be certified. Therefore, it is essential that benefits of certification be clearly articulated. By including a wide range of professional organizations within the certification development process, and working to include the interests of all GIS professionals by developing both a reasonable core set of competencies and appropriate specialized evaluations within the certification process, all groups will benefit from certification.”